Funded in part by grants from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Agriculture

ABOUT MIDAS

The regionthat constitutes Mid-Iowa Development Association (MIDAS) consists of all of Calhoun, Hamilton, Humboldt, Pocahontas, Webster and Wright Counties, and the local governments within this area of 3,459 square miles serving 93,710 citizens (2010 Census).

MIDAS Council of Governments is an intergovernmental agency (28E and 28H) that was created in response to common interests of governments and the need for cooperative approaches to solve area-wide issues. This cooperative venture is intended to help local governments improve their capacity to implement services by defining regional issues, problems, and opportunities; setting priorities and formulating policies, plans and programs to deal with them; and achieving efficient and effective action on area wide matters through communications, coordination, and cooperation.

The organization that is known as MIDAS Council of Governments was established on March 4, 1971, local governments of Region V formed MIDAS on June 24, 1971 and hired the first staff on March 2, 1972. MIDAS is a Chapter 28E intergovernmental agency and operates under an "Articles of Agreements" and "By-Laws." This agency was created in response to common interests of governments and the need for cooperative approaches to solve area-wide issues. This voluntary, cooperative venture, was intended to help local governments improve their capability to implement service programs by defining regional issues, problems and opportunities; by setting priorities and formulating policies, plans and programs to deal with them; and by achieving efficient and effective action on area wide matters through communications, coordination and cooperation. It should be noted that the agency is not another layer of government, does not have legal authority to bind its members, nor can it force adherence to any given plan or policy.